Louisiana and Fracking

Fracking in the 11,000-feet-deep Haynesville Shale in Louisiana started in northwest Louisiana in 2008. Since then, more than 1,060 wells have been fracked and another 930 have been permitted and are at different stages of drilling. The Haynesville shale has been billed as the nation’s most productive gas field. But this boom has not found its way to the state’s coffers thanks to generous tax breaks the state has doled out to gas producers.

Below is a map of some of the high profile incidents ("fraccidents") related to the country's gas drilling boom that have already occurred in and around Louisiana. Click on any fraccident to learn more.

In communities across the country, people are standing up to the fracking industry, passing bans and limits on fracking and defending their right to do so in court. And when the oil and gas industry tries to bully communities into backing down, communities are fighting back—and winning. Learn about some of these fights.